Life would be much better if only children had nightmares. Despite the social status, life experience and impressionability, terrible dreams can prevail over everyone, without exception. And coping with them is sometimes no easier for an adult than for a child.
When asked why people have nightmares, psychologists are categorical - this is how a person's consciousness struggles with a whole range of problems. Among them:
- anxiety state;
- regular stress;
- accumulated fatigue;
- incessant experiences.
There are also deeper provoking factors, which include stress experienced in childhood, acts of violence and much more. In such cases, qualified therapy by specialists is recommended.
It is also believed that nightmares are a way to clear the mind of negative emotions. So the mind of a person in a state of sleep visualizes a situation that haunts in real life, using metaphors on the most frightening topics. From this point of view, nightmares have a kind of therapeutic benefit, signaling psychological problems.
Along with psychological, there are also completely everyday causes of nightmares. These include:
- unpleasant or simply pungent odor in the room;
- included screens of electrical appliances;
- extraneous sounds: leaking taps, fan, noise on the street.
In these cases, it is enough to eliminate provoking factors so that nightmares no longer dream.
What to do if another person has a nightmare
The most troubling nightmares are in the deep sleep phase, which occurs several hours after falling asleep. During this period, it can be difficult to wake up on your own, and the sleeper can actively gesticulate, jerk his legs and make various sounds. Contrary to the instinctive desire to help, scientists recommend not to wake a person in such a state. This is due to the fact that the sleeping person may not immediately recognize the person next to him, and perceive him aggressively, following the dream scenario.
In such a situation, it is best to call the sleeping person by name in a calm but loud voice, so that awakening comes as naturally as possible. To prevent the nightmare from continuing, the old "grandmother's" advice is useful - to turn on the other side and try to fall asleep again. Changing the posture of sleep will allow you to "reset" consciousness, and the nightmare will be replaced by another, more neutral dream.
If all external stimuli are eliminated, and nightmares continue to prevail, the following simple rules should be learned and firmly followed.
Rule 1. Correct diet
It is necessary to build your diet in such a way as to once and for all exclude nighttime or late meals. Having dinner three hours before bed will help keep your digestive system working properly, which in turn will help you sleep well.
The same should apply to coffee, tea and alcohol, which are best left in the morning and early evening, respectively.
Rule 2. Informational diet
If nightmares do not repeat the same plot, but present to the sleeper every night new "horror films", it is possible that it is provoked by films, computer games or books with appropriate content.
To broaden your horizons, you should temporarily abandon action-packed films, take a break from computer battles and read classical literature instead of detective stories about killer maniacs.
Rule 3. Scripting the nightmare
If the nightmare has already dreamed, and its "aftertaste" does not allow you to collect your thoughts, you should use one simple advice from psychologists. It is necessary to write the dream in the smallest detail on paper. If you wish, you can illustrate the story with pictures of what you saw.
The ending of the dream should be written independently, regardless of what you see. And you need to make it positive. For example, a dreamed natural disaster may suddenly stop and be replaced by a bright sky and a bright sun. Or the mysterious figure of a stranger, instead of a dangerous villain, will suddenly turn into a well-wisher who just wanted to make friends.
If the source of the fear in the dream is an animate character, it is helpful to establish a dialogue with him. Come up with questions to which he can provide answers that remove all assumptions about a possible threat.
